Diary of a Marked W•man

Paris, October 2007

Wed. The 3rd: Visit by Mme Pambou for renewal of my “Contrat d’Insertion”. I show her the tablecloth with 8 “insertions” (he he!) that I did all by hand, thecrocheted fireplace scarf edging where I created a pattern to make an angle, the indigo cotton wall hanging where I embroidered 3 sashiko panels, the shoulder bag with a wide band of Assis embroidery which I managed to make after the backpack I had originaly intended proved unfeasable, the tablet woven band I had made a few months ago and the one I was in the process of weaving. It seems to me she disdained the embroidery and hand-stiching but showed enthusiasm for machine-sewn items like the hems of the table cloth and the shoulder bag.

She offered me again the option of a mixed contract that involved not only the obligation to actively strive for professional goals but also for social goals. She said that if I signed up for a mixed contract I could get a one year contract instead of a six month contract, but I said that I was not willing to commit myself to more than I was already doing so I declined the offer.

She broached the subject of my knee, asking what if the social service contacted a hospital for me, for instance the Pitié Hospital. I exclaimed that this was the last hospital I wanted to go to considering how badly they had treated me there. She asked for details so I said that the surgeon they assigned me looked too young in my opinion and that after I asked for a surgeon with more experience they didn’t propose one to me so I didn’t have any surgery done. She concurred that it was my right to decline the service of a doctor if I didn’t trust him. “And now” I continued, “the accounting department of the hospital is pestering me to pay for the surgery I didn’t have. They’ve been after me since early 2005 now, and threaten to confiscate my money on my bank account. Even though the money I get from the RMI is protected against liens, it is exasperating to receive these requests.” I showed her a few from my file and I read to her a letter I had sent in early 2007 proving that I had never undergone the surgery for which they wanted payment. Mrs Pambou then suggested that if I gave her the file number and the phone number of the accounting office she could try solving the problem for me, so I gave her one of the many notices I had received. I hope she did her job and that I won’t hear from these miscreants again!

She did the paperwork saying I had fulfilled my contract and she approved its renewal and a few days later I received the official letter granting me the RMI allowance for the next 6 months.

Mon the 8th: Pick up pkgs at post office. Kept waiting on my feet 20mn. Chronopost pkg from Japan available at Porte d’Italie branch, not here. I say I can't go there. Woman takes my notepad where I had written tracking number with her to the back office and remains there for about 5mn. When she comes back she says that pkg will be sent here and I should return tomorrow at end of afternoon to pick it up but the next day I don't feel like going out again and pkg is returned to Japan undelivered.

Wed< the 10th: From my window see Mom at parking meter downstairs talking with Mrs Phung. She’s still tall and straight at 81 an her hair as usual looks like a hurricane is blowing thru it.

On the Card Weaving Yahoo Group a woman who is a new member has an advertising message for her jewelry appearing at the end of every post and during the week end she has about 20 posts as many members reply and she replies back. I write the group owner to inform him of this breach of membership rules but he replies that he doesn’t want to “scare her off” as the spam comes “only” after her signature and she may not be aware it's appearing. He suggests I write the woman but I reply I have no authority to do this and why isn’t a moderator taking care of it since new members are moderated anyway, how come the spam was allowed to be posted? I then write a moderator to ask the same question and she answers like I’m some kind of detritus, tells me that because I live in Europe unlike the majority of members I'll have to be patient whereas lots of members come from the UK, Germany, Sweden and other European countries but she just tries to make me feel like I'm the odd one out. I reply asking why she is so uptight and she replies that I was rude last summer after she erased me from the member roster and that “actions have consequences”. I ask her why she is allowing thru the spam but I get no good answer. She says they’re going to discuss the matter among themselves as if there was a doubt about the nature of the ad. After a week end during which the woman kept posting lots of messages and always ending with her ad I ask the moderator “Ciorstan” what they have decided. She replies that I have a lot of nerve to ask about the contents of the meeting and that it's really splitting hair on my part to call "spam" an advertising message that comes after a signature. All I get from her is an admission that the ad is “inappropriate” but no commitment to ask the culprit to stop. The ads keep appearing after every post of this incredibly rude new member... email 1email 2 (PLEASE USE BACK BUTTON TO RETURN TO THIS PAGE)

Tues. The 17th: So finally after returning from a food-shopping foray at G20 where several shopping carts overflowing with empty cardboard boxes were hindering the moves through the aisles, I write her asking that she stop and giving her a link to the membership rules and only then does she remove her ad as I noticed in her later posts. email 3

I resign from 2 Yahoo groups and only after resigning do I get a link to the membership rules so I write to the Yahoo Group complaint person about the failure of the moderators at the Card Weaving group to prevent the new member from spamming, and I write to the “suggestion box” or similar to ask why it is that the membership rules are made available for reading only after a member has resigned and wouldn’t it be better to make it a requirement for a candidate to a group to check a box affirming that he or she has read and accepted the membership rules.

I get a reply to the complaint so I send copies of all the emails I sent and received on the subject asking to be kept informed of any development but I never hear back after that. On the other hand the person answering my suggestion replies asking for all the data regarding the automatic messages sent after I resigned the 2 groups and explaining in excruciating details how to reveal the origin of a message. I don’t bother to reply as, unsurprisingly, the turn of events is the opposite of what I wanted.